What a beating! Entering the bottom of the fifth inning with Canada leading 8-0 and having scored in every inning, all anyone could talk about was whether the US would lose by mercy rule. Canada needed to extend the lead to 10 runs to pull off what would have been a humiliating defeat over the over-rated Team USA.

The US made a comeback scoring 6 in the bottom of the fifth. But it was to be the only inning they scored. There was a little drama in the bottom of the 8th, when Chase Utley thought his warning track fly out was going to carry for a 3-run homer. The game ended 8-6 Canada.

Stern was the hitting star for Canada, going 3-4 with a single, triple, inside-the-park homer and 4 rbi's.

Dontrelle Willis is apparently not ready for the season, taking the loss and allowing at least 1 run in each of the three innings he pitched. It would be one thing if he gave up a lucky homer, but he gave up three triples!

I'm a big Leiter fan, but it's time to recognize that he should retire. I know it's only March, and some guys just need time to find their groove, but Leiter is done. I cringed as soon as his name was announced to put out the Willis fire. As expected, he was ineffective, allowing both of the runners he inherited to score. He did not even manage to get 1 complete inning in before having to be rescued the following inning.

As I reported yesterday, Team USA does not have its game face on yet and today it really showed. They better find that eye of the tiger, because the way they are going, they might not even make it out of the first round. Now they not only have to beat South Africa on Friday (which should not be a big problem hypothetically), but it may come down to how many runs they beat them by in order for them to break a tie with either Canada or Mexico.